English mandatory in schools

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http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/142005c.asp

 

I love it when people act scared! Fear is an awesome motivator! It rocks!
I read in a book that in the future (in say 50 years) spanish speakers will be majority in the US if things go on like this. The arguments held by that guy were very anti democratic too. And I think they're jealous they don't speak two languages!

 

That's just cr*p. English IS the official language of the United States, but they had no right to suspend that kid just for speaking Spanish. The only way I can see it is if he was doing it to be insubordinate to a teacher (deliberately answering in a language they didn't know), but this was just to another student in the hallway. Are they really that paranoid about student plots?

 

Especially if that kid has been watching too much "Dora the Explorer". You only have to watch that for five minutes and you'll find yourself saying "Pour favore" all the time.

 

That is absolutely rubbish! You can't just tell someone they can't speak their

own language! That was totally unjustified and unfair what they did to that

student! I mean, people speak their own native language all the time over here at school, even during class! I could understand if the student had been speaking during an English class -how are you supposed to improve your english then? But he wasn't, so I don't agree with that.

 

Fellinoid: English isn't the official language of the U.S. There is no official language.

Of course, that just further validates the argument that this whole thing is silly.

 

Oh, you've got to be kidding me...

That said, I think English should be mandatory in schools in countries where English is the "official language" (ie: that citizens use at home). Basic grammar is appallingly undervalued in the Australian education system.

 

@Oaz:
Technically no, but that's just an oversight. English is the de facto official language whether other countries (or even our own) recognize that or not. And my name only has one 'l'.

 

What the hell, man... They can't just suspend someone for speaking spanish. I mean, I can understand that they want students speaking english in class rooms, but for the rest of the time, they should be allowed to speak whatever language they want.

Might be a little too much to sue the school though, but it's the US, so it's probably mandatory

 

Ah, that surely explains it.
Following the same reasoning, if a mute student is communicating using signs with another student, and a teacher who doesn't know sign language sees them... he's got the right to kick them out and call the police "in case they're talking about a bomb, you know".

As the lad's father said, I'd have nothing against this should the school had an English-only policy, to help boosting the language among ther students. Here in Ireland there are gaelic schools were students must speak in Irish all the time. This is so to help them develop their language skills in Irish gaelic, so that they are receiving an education, and becoming fluent in the nation's second official language at the same time. Those who go to those schools know that it's expected of them to use Irish gaelic even during breaks, and that they can get negative marks, or even face suspension, if they speak any non-gaelic language during school hours.

In northern Spain, there are also schools were subjects are taught only in the regional language, being it Catalan, Galician, or Basque, and where students are encouraged to use those languages whenever possible. But it's never imposed not to speak a particular language out of class.

[ December 16, 2005, 14:41: Message edited by: Colthrun ]

 

Somehow I'm reminded of the Flann O'Brien novel "The Poor Mouth" where Irish kids are "taught" English:
The teacher asks: "What is yer nam?"
The kid says his name.
The teacher cracks the kid's head with an oar. "Yer nam is Jams O'Donnell!"

 

What the ****. These idiots! Suspend a kid for speaking spanish? I mean, its called Freedom of Speech... ITS THE FIRST AMENDMENT!!!


Just more proof that people in America are stupid...

 

And the school would also be held liable if he said, "The bomb is around the corner" in English and no teacher heard him.

Besides, saying, "The bomb is around the corner" while in a public facility is illegal no matter what language you use. It's the equivalent of yelling "Fire!" while inside a crowded movie theater.

Basically, I agree with the father's approach. If there is no school policy stating that you are only allowed to speak Enligh while on school grounds, then they have no right to suspend his son. In fact, it could be argued that his son made the perfectly reasonable assumption that he had done nothing wrong while speaking Spanish while he was at school. Clearly, I agree that the student should be required to give all responses (whether written or verbal) in English when he is in any class, but during breaks, lunch, etc., it shouldn't matter what language he speaks.

Also, why wasn't the other student suspended as well? It only mentions one of the students was sent to the principal's office and told he was to be suspended. I am not bilingual, but if I was, and someone asked me a question in that second language, I would probably answer in the same language without even thinking about it. In this case, it's even worse because it appears that Spanish was the first language of both of these students.

 

Personally I wish they would require all student to speak English all the time.

 

Absolutely. In class, they should be required to speak english when responding to a question spoken in english (as in, during german class, they can speak german, etc). However, in his free time, why does it matter?

 

What a bunch of stupid *******s They have no right to suspend him!

 

Where the **** is all the freedom and constitutional principles if kids can't speak the language of their choice during their free time? For what purpose should English be enforced? So that their private conversations could be ermm... supervised more easily?

Reminds me of how Polish was forbidden in schools after the partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795, until 1918, scope and intensity of oppression varying per time).

Correct. The idiots obviously forgot about the good old (not so old, in fact) rule that infractions are what the law specifies as infractions.

Good. Although I'm still not a big fan of the so called suing culture. But the school needs a serious kick in the butt to learn the lesson or the boy is going to have a tough life there.

Correct. That's what happens when the wrong people get the power.

Yes, there are bombs behind every corner. Especially if it involves hispanic people.

No, idiot. The new citizen learnt that you can't punish people without a written regulation they have broken. Something he knows better than you. Besides, if the citizenship class taught him wrong, who teaches citizenship classes? Your fellow "old" citizens, moron.

IMHO Mr Boulet should shut up and contemplate the fact that a new citizen from behind the Southern border seems to understand the rule of law better than the school. Or Boulet himself, for that matter.

Where I agree is that there shouldn't be situations where you had to translate official US documents into English from Spanish or Arabic or French or German or Polish. I believe people shouldn't have the impression they can function normally in an English-speaking country and culture without knowing English. Americans should be able to communicate in English in their own country. But who's hurt when two hispanic teenagers speak in their native language?

Immigrants should be actively discouraged from neglecting to learn and master the language of the country they want to stay in if they are going to work in the public sector, receive education or similar. There's no reason why there shouldn't be school where everything is taught in Spanish. In Warsaw, we have schools where they teach in English, French, German and Spanish... why not in the US?

However, we already hear a lot of horrible English from native speakers, especially teenage students. How many kids out of ten can spell or get a sentence right?

The Rubios should get no cash. Cash is not the universal remedy for all problems. Apology is enough. And maybe a protective injunction. If the school were to pay any money, it should go to charity. That or a plain fine.

My final thought is that Mr Boulet should take the citizenship exam. Does anyone agree with me?

 

In a political left minded country like holland the teacher can be sacked for it. We even have schools were immigrant students get all lessons in their native tongue and not the official. That is the other side of the medal and the wrong side for intergration.

How can one not get political with this?

The citizin exam is also an issue in holland. At the moment we have a lot of problem with morrocan youth. some refuse to accept our laws and customs and every debate ends in a political row because they are moslim and the dutch mostly cristian. (Our political system consist out of 7 large and several smaller parties) With the exam we want to force the understanding of our laws on those that live here but not with us. Needless to say that some cry murder.

By the way. Do the canadians not have two?

Last I would like to add that I do not know the US constitution. please do not explain it to me. My post comes from an european liberal central view.

 

spain should now respond in turn and ban students speaking and learning english in their schools...

then lets see how much it screws up the world

 

Eh, forgot to add one thing. It's a natural reflex to reply in the language in which you are talked to. It's possible to control to some extent but you can't really have full control over things like that. Especially if someone talks to you in your mother language in a country that speaks a different one.